The Gomez contract was useful in NHL 12 when I was struggling mightily to get the Islanders to the cap floor (which was virtually impossible to do while signing worthwhile guys to the relatively reasonable contracts they tended to demand). Give Montreal a late pick for Gomez and sign someone like Ed Jovanovski or Bryan McCabe to a one year $7-8 million contract and you can cover a lot of ground.

But yeah... too bad it's tainted with the fact that NYR somehow scammed McDonagh off of the Habs on top of getting them to take that contract. Which was enough of a tooling, as is.

Everyone knew it would turn out like this even at the time of the trade. Sometimes I really wonder whether Sather pays other GMs under the table to make them take his horrible signings off his hands. Nobody can have that much luck.

Anyone else surprised at how little movement there was today? Three minor trades. I kind of was led to believe that there were a lot of moves just lined up to be made when the players approved the new CBA.

Anyone else surprised at how little movement there was today? Three minor trades. I kind of was led to believe that there were a lot of moves just lined up to be made when the players approved the new CBA.

Everyone knew it would turn out like this even at the time of the trade. Sometimes I really wonder whether Sather pays other GMs under the table to make them take his horrible signings off his hands. Nobody can have that much luck.

Anyone else surprised at how little movement there was today? Three minor trades. I kind of was led to believe that there were a lot of moves just lined up to be made when the players approved the new CBA.

Yeah, I agree.

You know it's a slow day when the only thing I've seen of interest is that Kevin Westgarth is Bill Cowher's son in law (married to one of Cowher's daughters). I didn't know that before today.

The Edmonton Oilers snag Mark Fistric from the Dallas Stars for a third-round pick. Jonathan Willis: “Obviously, Fistric was not acquired for his offense. He does, however, add some much needed NHL experience to a blue line that was already thin before the loss of Andy Sutton to injury.”

Has anyone seen Nick Petrecki over the last couple years? I liked him a lot in his draft year, and actually wanted the Pens to take him. I haven't followed him the last few years. I see he's an RFA now, and hasn't been qualified.

I wasn't surprised that there wasn't a flurry of movement right after the gates opened...but I'm surprised by the lack of activity since then. I thought for sure there'd have been one major move...instead almost all of the RFAs remain unsigned and the biggest name to be traded was a 6th defenseman who's set to be a UFA in <6 months.

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“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death, our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” - Stanley Kubrick